tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-74090856712534372012024-03-13T00:28:37.525+00:00Jennie's JournalsJust some stuff that interests me.....Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger55125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7409085671253437201.post-21310746506425068302018-10-25T12:04:00.000+01:002018-11-18T08:57:26.190+00:00Witch hunts - legal femicide? And it's still happening....Many people view witches, green-faced with warts and broomsticks to be creatures of myth and fairytale. They certainly are key figures in modern Halloween celebrations. Perhaps <i>these</i> rather ugly creatures are mythical, but witches were, and still are, real people.<br />
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<a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3AExecutionAnnHibbins1.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" title="By Frank Thayer Merril [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons"><img alt="ExecutionAnnHibbins1" src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5e/ExecutionAnnHibbins1.jpg" width="256" /></a><br />
Witches used to be defined as women who have supernatural powers and cast evil spells on people. People certainly were afraid of them and this fear was upheld by certain tracts in the Bible condemning witchcraft. Deuteronomy 18:11-12 states that 'Anyone who does these things is detestable to the Lord' while 'Do not allow a sorceress to live' appears in Exodus 22:18.<br />
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In ancient Egypt and Babylonia witchcraft was punishable by law. In 331 BC 170 women were executed in Rome, accused of playing a part in an epidemic illness. Also in Rome, 2000 people were executed for witchcraft in 184 BC and a further 3000 people during 180-182 BC in relation to an epidemic. Witches continued to be hunted in Rome until the Roman Empire adopted Christianity as its state religion. According to some sources, the executions per populace during this era far exceeded the rate perpetrated during the early modern period. Jewish law also condemned witchcraft and during 1BC 80 women accused of witchcraft were sentenced to death in one day.<br />
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Witches continued to be persecuted through the ages, the cases increasing markedly during the 14th and 15th centuries when there was widespread fear that, variously, Jews, Moslems and/or witches were attempting to undermine Christianity. During the Middle Ages attempts were made by the Roman Catholic Church to check this fanatical execution of people stating that even believing that someone was a witch was superstition, but the Reformation brought witchcraft trials back into the realm of religion. From 1550 to 1650, persecution of witches became a craze, the fear being that witches were now in league with the Devil. Throughout Europe during this period known as the 'Burning Times' around 100 000 'witches' were executed, many by burning, others by beheading, hanging, strangling and even crushing. There are also accounts of torture to extract confessions. The Salem witch trials during 1692 took the lives of 20 people.<br />
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Some Witchcraft Acts have been abolished only recently. Zimbabwe lifted the ban on witches in 2006. The UK repealed the act in 1951. However, Israel, Saudi Arabia, Papua New Guinea and South Africa still have current Witchcraft Acts. See <a href="http://rt.com/news/saudi-arabia-sharia-beheading-435/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">this report</a> on witchcraft beheadings in Saudi Arabia. In various states in Africa, notably Cameroon, the Gambia, Ghana, Sierra Leone, Tanzania, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kenya and Zambia witch hunting still continues. In 2009 a South African woman was burned to death by a petrol bomb, suspected of being a witch. In Northern India women are killed, accused of being witches; an estimated total of 2500 women having lost their lives to mob lynchings between 1995 and 2009. In Papua New Guinea the torture and murder of alleged witches continues. In Saudi Arabia, as recently as June 2012 an accused 'witch' was beheaded.<br />
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Certainly witchcraft suppression legislation could not possibly be defined in a manner that allows for 'no reasonable doubt' due to the supernatural nature of the practise. This is obviously the case in Saudi Arabia where witchcraft is a criminal offence even though the the<a href="http://www.hrw.org/en/node/62304/section/23" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"> crime is undefined</a>.<br />
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The sheer absurdity of the entire process is astounding and just as incomprehensible as targeting Jews. Why are there no mass executions of psychopaths, paedophiles and serial murderers? How on earth can a witchcraft trial prove that a person has by some sort of supernatural means, caused harm? Where is the forensic evidence? Especially when this harm has often been in the form of crop failures or health epidemics.<br />
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One has to ask the question why the vast majority of those condemned as 'witches' were women even though men can also be witches. Is this a convenient way to get rid of women who don't conform, are not obedient? Or is it deeper than this? Is it because humans need an enemy for validation of the self? In the absence of a war, is this a form of identifying and eradicating the requisite enemy? And what better target than the weaker, the least protected of the species?<br />
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<span style="font-size: xx-small;">http://www.holocaust-history.org/~rjg/witches.shtml</span><br />
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Witch-hunt</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7409085671253437201.post-39537101221644048142014-12-03T19:52:00.000+00:002014-12-03T19:53:31.931+00:00I have been nominated for the Liebster awardIt's been an awfully long time since I published a post on this blog, but it's about time, and I have been prompted to since I have been nominated for the Liebster award, much to my amazement and delight.<br />
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<img alt="image001" src="https://flamingenglishdotcom.files.wordpress.com/2014/12/image001.png?w=200&h=199" /><br />
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I was nominated by the wonderfully entertaining blogger of English, Anna Nolan of Flaming English <a href="http://flaming-english.com/">http://flaming-english.com/</a> who was in turn nominated by Sean at <a href="http://theplight2write.com/">http://theplight2write.com/.</a><br />
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I decided to accept since I feel totally honoured although terribly unworthy. This might encourage me to get my act together and blog more. So, thank you, Anna.<br />
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Now, this is a very good opportunity for me to draw your attention to some other wonderful new bloggers, and I hereby nominate them for the honour of the Liebster award. You can find them listed below, and I encourage you to visit their blogs and enjoy:<br />
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David McAdam of <a href="https://davidmcadamwriter.wordpress.com/">https://davidmcadamwriter.wordpress.com</a><br />
NiQi Tanya During of <a href="http://fabulousandfightingcf.blogspot.co.uk/">http://fabulousandfightingcf.blogspot.co.uk/</a><br />
Brittany at <a href="http://blissfulbritt.com/">http://blissfulbritt.com/</a><br />
Fadi Zaghmout at <a href="http://thearabobserver.wordpress.com/">http://thearabobserver.wordpress.com/</a><br />
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What the nominees have to do if they accept the Liebster Award</h3>
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The main rules associated with the Liebster Award are as follows:</h4>
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1: Acknowledge and accept the Liebster Award by leaving a comment on the blog where you were nominated;<br />
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2: Copy the Liebster logo and paste it onto your own blog;<br />
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3: Inform your nominees by leaving a comment on their respective blogs;<br />
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4: In your blog post about the Liebster Award:<br />
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<ul>
<li>Link back to the blogger who nominated you</li>
<li>Answer the 11 questions put to you by the person who nominated you</li>
<li>List 11 random facts about yourself</li>
<li>Nominate, and link to, three–11 other blogs which you enjoy and which have fewer than 3,000 followers</li>
<li>List 11 questions for your nominees.</li>
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Below are the answers to the 11 questions I was asked:</h4>
1. What would you like to get out of blogging?<br />
I would love to know if I have reached people who feel the way I do about the issues I blog about.<br />
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2. What is your claim to fame?<br />
Hmmmm. Probably for being a very accomplished Jill of all trades and mistress of none. Excepting for procrastination. Really good at that.<br />
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3. What matters to you most?<br />
I care most about living as close to Mother Earth as possible, which means that I try to take care to cause the least harm to her in whatever I do. Not an easy task.<br />
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4. What is your guilty pleasure?<br />
Seriously black chocolate - dark, bitter and fairtrade of course.<br />
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5. If you could live anywhere in the world, where would it be?<br />
Gairloch in Scotland... no wait... make that anywhere where mountains fall to the sea or a lake.<br />
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6. How do you like spending your free time?<br />
Free time? What's that?<br />
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7. What is your most abiding memory?<br />
Walking behind my dad as we returned from collecting eggs from the hens. I would have been about three years old, and I remember trying hard to step where he stepped so that the dew in the long grass didn't soak my shoes. This was rather difficult as he also entrusted me with the basket of eggs, which I knew had to be kept safe.<br />
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8. Who is your favourite writer?<br />
So many to choose from, but Alexander McCall Smith has to be one of my top favourites, especially his Number 1 Ladies Detective Agency series, set in Botswana, a place and people I relate to so easily since I hail from South Africa.<br />
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9. What type of music do you like?<br />
Now you've got me. So many to choose from. Let me say any music where voices and/or instruments (real ones) are used with clarity and passion. This would cover Bach's Toccata and Fugue in Dm to my favourite mad violinist, Ashanti Floyd.<br />
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10. What tends to annoy you?<br />
Stupidity and unnecessary noise. I think the two tend to accompany each other. I'm sure I don't need to clarify the former, but the latter includes loud exhausts on cars, that dreadful thud thud that emanates from the same vehicles and which some call music, as well as the so-called music that one is forced to listen to in various shopping establishments.<br />
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11. What quality do you most admire in people?<br />
I really enjoy people who are honest and candid, kind and intelligent. Oh right, that's four qualities. Pick whichever one you like best.<br />
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Here are 11 random facts about me:</h4>
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<ol>
<li>I've finally decided at the age of 57 what degree I want to do.</li>
<li>I was born in a place called Pietermaritzburg, which is also called umGungundlovu. This is why I prefer English.</li>
<li>I am a vegan (not surprising considering no 2 in the first list).</li>
<li>I have never had a traffic fine.</li>
<li>I have lived in South Africa, Australia, New Zealand and now England.</li>
<li>Places I have travelled to: Belgium, France, Germany, Switzerland, Netherlands, Greece, Turkey, Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Egypt, Madagascar, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Swaziland... I think that's all so far.</li>
<li>I lived on a narrowboat in 2012 and a catamaran in 2008. I don't really like boats all that much.</li>
<li>Like Anna, I cut my own hair and don't care whether anyone likes it.</li>
<li>My favourite food is avocado, followed closely by mango.</li>
<li>My favourite pastime is walking in nature. Or is it painting? Writing? Hmmm. </li>
<li>I'm really good at DIY.</li>
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Here are my 11 questions to my nominees:</h4>
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1. If you could do anything you wanted, what would it be?</div>
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2. What is your favourite animal and why?</div>
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3. Who has been the most influential person in your life?</div>
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4. What do you hope to achieve with your blog?</div>
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5. What is your favourite food?</div>
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6. What is your pet peeve?</div>
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7. What would make you happy?</div>
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8. If you won the jackpot, what would you do with the money?</div>
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9. What is your idea of good holiday?</div>
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10. If your house went on fire, which possession would you try to save?</div>
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11. If you could have your life over again, would you change anything?</div>
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So, now that you have read all of the above (or skipped to here) please feel free to ignore the nomination if you don't have the time to follow the rules, but if you do accept, I will be delighted.</div>
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Finally, thank you, Anna, once again for the nomination. My one and only hour of fame.</div>
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Jennie</div>
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7409085671253437201.post-52822225807025772222013-08-04T20:58:00.000+01:002014-08-31T20:37:17.504+01:00Buy cheap photos for your website, blog or article and help save a lifeIf you, like me, try to do the right thing by buying ethical products and being careful that your actions are as positive as possible, you may be interested in buying photos to help this cause.<br />
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<a href="http://cffundraiser.instaproofs.com/store/?page=multipleCategories&event=857421" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnAHCowFhRaDxxcoGzPYCBMvPmU8i7THUiw6KHaqpNuDU8Jwt6MqIvi9YBFbMlVjDzbJFuZ0vC3Cc4s_FhAO3U6Ncbczx53HEvi4wA6jMwOLdJbIVkhKZ2F_Uwt2Zbwf3mdjpxDdeUAaY/s400/sunrise-2.jpg" height="204" width="400" /></a></div>
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NiQi Tanja During is a young and incredibly brave woman who suffers from Cystic Fibrosis. I wrote about her in <a href="http://jenniesjournals.blogspot.co.uk/2012/08/niqi-brave-young-woman.html" target="_blank">another post,</a> some time ago. Here is a link to NiQi's blog - I found this post particularly interesting and illuminating:<br />
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<a href="http://fabulousandfightingcf.blogspot.co.uk/2014/08/charitea-speech.html#comment-form">http://fabulousandfightingcf.blogspot.co.uk/2014/08/charitea-speech.html#comment-form</a><br />
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She needs two new lungs, desperately. And for that, she needs funds. So I set up this site where you can choose from over 700 photos, and feel good that each one you buy will go towards helping NiQi.<br />
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The photos are very reasonably priced, and most are of nature.<br />
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Here is the link to the site: <a href="http://cffundraiser.instaproofs.com/store/?page=multipleCategories&event=857421">http://cffundraiser.instaproofs.com/store/?page=multipleCategories&event=857421</a><br />
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Please have a look and see if you can help out. If you don't need a photo, perhaps you would consider forwarding this post to someone who may.<br />
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Thank you and bless you.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7409085671253437201.post-7462643426240390892013-07-25T17:04:00.000+01:002013-07-25T17:05:02.370+01:00Life is like a funfair rideThe other day someone remarked on how exciting my life seemed to be. I told them that I hadn't ever planned on excitement and am happy with peace and quiet, but somehow, something always happens. It got me thinking.<br />
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Life is a bit like rides at the funfair.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoPpgHKdtJ1pd0ncA5FZaK4v5bVQEcsCX-ERtiIohe3HpYdZTUQXfQ_fGTP8wBMQy6cnrbU7bnFtSdLFfILwny6JGF1g0x2uPLi6FWnUdhglwE8rqy_2Alch7SHWYTw2SOx96eal3Otv0/s1600/fairground.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoPpgHKdtJ1pd0ncA5FZaK4v5bVQEcsCX-ERtiIohe3HpYdZTUQXfQ_fGTP8wBMQy6cnrbU7bnFtSdLFfILwny6JGF1g0x2uPLi6FWnUdhglwE8rqy_2Alch7SHWYTw2SOx96eal3Otv0/s1600/fairground.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.freedigitalphotos.net/">http://www.freedigitalphotos.net</a> Simon Howden</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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Mine has been like a roller-coaster with big ups and downs and lots of breathless moments.<br />
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But some people seem to be on a carousel with ups and downs certainly, but nothing terrifying.<br />
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Others are in bumper cars, alternately bashing other people or being bashed.<br />
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Many people are in ghost train rides, being scared witless as they go along - I think that people in war situations must feel like this.<br />
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There are people who are on the big wheel, experiencing slow climbs to great heights and equally slow dips down.<br />
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And it's as if people are on one or maybe two of the rides during their lifetime. As if they bought tickets before they were born, for a specific ride.<br />
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And with all of the rides, we end up back in the place we started.<br />
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From birth to death, life is a fun ride, scary at times, with the odd breakdown, or even catastrophe, but we go back home after it's over.<br />
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Looking at life like this somehow makes it feel less scary to me as it makes me remember that it's supposed to be fun, even when it's scary, and I know I will go back home at the end of the ride.<br />
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What do you think? What sort of ride did you buy a life ticket for? Please let me know by leaving a comment. I'd love to hear what your life's been like.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7409085671253437201.post-14028829882618471472013-07-12T14:22:00.001+01:002013-07-12T14:57:53.202+01:00Cas Peace is on my list of favourite authors<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgf_q9Qe9Ij88dPFTq9q8Q-J42B3yxrSjnCd5UvMyYWnWSbZagwPwW5_3AE1iUx1YPQJqFna1ru3m5M_nM7bbEbR6cH622tiBPrdJRqJNHwNVy5Fw7Dss5o7o0jsuR3cHZkXk7GJ-W4Vvg/s1600/kings-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgf_q9Qe9Ij88dPFTq9q8Q-J42B3yxrSjnCd5UvMyYWnWSbZagwPwW5_3AE1iUx1YPQJqFna1ru3m5M_nM7bbEbR6cH622tiBPrdJRqJNHwNVy5Fw7Dss5o7o0jsuR3cHZkXk7GJ-W4Vvg/s1600/kings-1.jpg" /></a>I was never a fan of fantasy until I read Cas Peace's first two fantasy novels, King's Envoy and King's Champion, in her <a href="http://www.caspeace.com/" target="_blank">Artesans of Albia series</a>.<br />
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Other fantasy novels had me scratching my head trying to remember the awkward names of people and places as well as the often difficult-to-picture strange surroundings.<br />
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But Cas Peace makes you feel as if you are right inside her novels, with imaginative yet memorable names and descriptions.<br />
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However, the highlight of Cas Peace's latest fantasy novels are the amazingly larger-than-life yet very real characters, and her ability to keep you hooked to the last death-defying minute, unable to put the book down and gasping for the next one the second you finish reading.<br />
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The Artesans of Albia series describes what happens when a terrible weapon is discovered, a weapon that has the ability to damage the metaphysical powers of Artesans who live in the realms, if not the realms themselves.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvOo3TE0dx7gPMfLJrUzAQaAmPEY3OAM__yMjUxiJU5kKlfEY1XRfJfUqLeaY2HD_oMkfkKZGkxiG1KRT1y7yMp5UbuXo2gzg_ewWN8WHEnQkMXfYdx-K60CX-CiCT8rUAAPH7q61AdmM/s1600/kings-2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvOo3TE0dx7gPMfLJrUzAQaAmPEY3OAM__yMjUxiJU5kKlfEY1XRfJfUqLeaY2HD_oMkfkKZGkxiG1KRT1y7yMp5UbuXo2gzg_ewWN8WHEnQkMXfYdx-K60CX-CiCT8rUAAPH7q61AdmM/s1600/kings-2.jpg" /></a>Taran Elijah, a young Artesan who is trying to improve his metaphysical prowess, discovers the <br />
weapon. He survives contact with it and when he seeks help, he meets Major Sullyan of the High King's forces, a young and desirable woman and an immensely strong and brave Artesan with advanced powers.<br />
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Sully, as her friends know her, ends up in terribly dangerous and life-threatening situations, which, if it wasn't for her staunch friends, she has little chance of surviving.<br />
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I'm not going to say more as I don't want to give the plot away, or your enjoyment of reading these fine novels.<br />
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As for me, I'm waiting for the release of the third in the series so I can see how Sully gets herself out of deep trouble, again!<br />
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So, if you want to experience some amazing fantasy, just jump onto Amazon.<br />
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<iframe frameborder="0" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="http://rcm-eu.amazon-adsystem.com/e/cm?t=moneyfromhomeideas-21&o=2&p=8&l=as1&asins=1936850133&ref=tf_til&fc1=000000&IS2=1&lt1=_blank&m=amazon&lc1=0000FF&bc1=FFFFFF&bg1=FFFFFF&f=ifr" style="height: 240px; width: 120px;"></iframe>
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Also available from <a href="http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_1?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=cas+peace">Amazon.com</a>
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7409085671253437201.post-24283842780837456112013-05-19T12:06:00.000+01:002013-05-19T12:06:44.096+01:00Coconut sugar - better for your sweet tooth!I was buying bee pollen online from my favourite <a href="http://www.greensorganic.co.uk/?gclid=CI_StMD8obcCFQjKtAod5EYAcQ" target="_blank">organic shop</a> when I noticed that they sell coconut sugar.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg51zqVor40X_4aXWD1Amt8v-2HjP7Jf2BCOeHI3Sm0ZvBgPA9w_CXeQzaHDocw1opBR3nq3xvFM8jz7Nr0A5381c8Nja4R1qhkWhkqT-n7aOxZJCOHtu2c-AixUpKn-tpqVZsWWjSwiVk/s1600/coconut+flower.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg51zqVor40X_4aXWD1Amt8v-2HjP7Jf2BCOeHI3Sm0ZvBgPA9w_CXeQzaHDocw1opBR3nq3xvFM8jz7Nr0A5381c8Nja4R1qhkWhkqT-n7aOxZJCOHtu2c-AixUpKn-tpqVZsWWjSwiVk/s400/coconut+flower.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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I had never heard of it but have since discovered some amazing things about this sugar substitute.<br />
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First, coconut sugar has a low glycaemic index (GI) of 35. Compared to cane sugar at 85, this means that eating coconut sugar won't give you those horrible blood sugar crashes.<br />
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High GI foods like sugar can cause obesity, diabetes, atherosclerosis, kidney disease, heart disease and even cancer. See my notes on the <a href="http://jenniesjournals.blogspot.co.uk/2012/08/death-by-sugar-why-you-should-avoid.html" target="_blank">dangers of eating sugar.</a><br />
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Low GI foods have a rating of 55 or less, and eating these will help to keep you healthy.<br />
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So, back to coconut sugar, what is it?<br />
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It's available in granular, crystal, block or liquid form, and tastes almost like caramel flavoured brown sugar.<br />
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It's made by making a cut in the coconut flower stem and collecting the sap that runs from it into bamboo containers. This sap is poured into large woks and the moisture is evaporated over a low heat.<br />
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An added bonus is that this sugar is high in nutrients such as iron, magnesium, potassium and zinc, vitamins B1, B2, B3 and B6 and 16 amino acids.<br />
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It's considered safe for diabetics to use. Be sure to purchase organic sources and remember that Palm sugar is not the same thing.<br />
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7409085671253437201.post-32528504904222483282013-04-21T18:14:00.000+01:002013-04-21T20:36:58.106+01:00Are Californian Sea Lion pups dying from radiation poisoning?<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj14EsHrgVO93duiunYDjMhRGdrBB5-tZc47fUZd4OCl9P1E5zaekcKl4kprdOQDZc1H13scuwRfiGPCHXzfK6Hrc4efRzeWJu2JR9hjqGFSbGDOi37mMsF-56tUeYSKL0aWXNSiCkG6H0/s1600/2011+10+02_0071.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="210" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj14EsHrgVO93duiunYDjMhRGdrBB5-tZc47fUZd4OCl9P1E5zaekcKl4kprdOQDZc1H13scuwRfiGPCHXzfK6Hrc4efRzeWJu2JR9hjqGFSbGDOi37mMsF-56tUeYSKL0aWXNSiCkG6H0/s320/2011+10+02_0071.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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Californian sea lions may be dying from radiation poisoning.
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Nearly 1000 sick and dying Californian sea lion pups have
washed up on beaches this year.</div>
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Scientists say they are dying of starvation,
but don't know why.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Cesium-137 radiation has been leaking into the ocean since
the March 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster in Japan.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Ocean plankton have been contaminated with Cesium-137, according to a Tokyo
University of Marine Science and Technology report.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Sea lions eat fish that live on plankton, which drift with
ocean currents. </div>
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The Kuroshio current travels north past Japan and joins the North
Pacific current. This flows east to join the Californian current heading
south.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Tuna caught off the Californian coast have above-average
Cesium-137 contamination. Tuna also eat fish that live on plankton.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOEJcxVfKz1ZJo_lDb_EjJD7xEGyVh-gHGUklbdV28rprX-nruSahd2E0e9p3_r_YX4lgOLxa0WUIii4rGjbZXBIld7DQJWGXuqSeuXNuKWySAHerOqnZR5XKKTOE7cC1jMCivuwOnV9o/s1600/20100110+037a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOEJcxVfKz1ZJo_lDb_EjJD7xEGyVh-gHGUklbdV28rprX-nruSahd2E0e9p3_r_YX4lgOLxa0WUIii4rGjbZXBIld7DQJWGXuqSeuXNuKWySAHerOqnZR5XKKTOE7cC1jMCivuwOnV9o/s200/20100110+037a.jpg" width="179" /></a>After the disaster, wind carried fallout clouds across the
US east coast. Rains washed radioactive material to the ground, contaminating
pastures, crops and dairy milk.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Since the Fukushima disaster, Cesium-137 radiation has been
found in Finland, Canada, California and Australia.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Radiation disease symptoms include nausea, vomiting,
diarrhoea, loss of appetite, fatigue, cancer, seizures and coma.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Children and young animals are more sensitive to radiation
poisoning than adults due to faster cell division. Cesium-137 takes at least 60
years to decay.<o:p></o:p></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7409085671253437201.post-88958384351816149782013-04-11T16:42:00.001+01:002013-04-11T16:42:43.902+01:00Kintsugi - can people mend broken hearts with gold?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZdIVLTjLIM4rF5AuC_hMM7_kj2vAsHCUZ8PAlABqxHGwx6lA8wE0GDgIgoLB_lsYyg6nlyACx66TBOYn27u-T9p2JM3uU2XHAVN8DNOXzbsE_0ESprFoTQ4shxZfidi3B1EEpbNd9jq8/s1600/kintsugi-3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZdIVLTjLIM4rF5AuC_hMM7_kj2vAsHCUZ8PAlABqxHGwx6lA8wE0GDgIgoLB_lsYyg6nlyACx66TBOYn27u-T9p2JM3uU2XHAVN8DNOXzbsE_0ESprFoTQ4shxZfidi3B1EEpbNd9jq8/s400/kintsugi-3.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
Kintsugi is the Japanese art of mending cracked bowls with resin sprinkled with gold powder. The result is always beautiful and often poignant; a statement that something broken can be repaired and enhanced; raised to a different level of perfection.<br />
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I have seen photos of these works of art and each time have felt a corresponding kinship with them. They make me remember my own breakages; those dings and bumps of the soul and heart that are never forgotten; that bear scars silently and bravely.<br />
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And it made me wonder how I could raise my battle scars to the level of Kintsugi. Is it possible for humans to gild their broken hearts without flaunting the damage, without drawing undue attention to that which is past?<br />
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Most often, when someone suffers a damaged soul, they go through the classic stages of grief: shock and denial; pain and guilt; anger and bargaining; depression, reflection, loneliness; the upward turn; reconstruction; acceptance and hope. It may take a long time to reach the last stage, but the scars still remain and are tender to the touch, triggering long-forgotten emotions.<br />
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I imagine a good time to mend the breakages with gold would be at the reconstruction stage. Instead of trying to forget damage that cannot really ever be forgotten, perhaps a liberal sprinkling of gold dust over a flexible mending medium may hasten the recovery process.<br />
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What exactly do I mean? I think that instead of feeling bitter about something, feeling singled-out or maligned, feeling that life has been unfair, we can accept the fact that this IS life. Things break.<br />
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And when the heart and soul break, this is the opportunity to grow, to enhance one's spiritual life with a new awareness of what's important, a new opportunity to be more empathic towards others, a time to understand that each breakage we suffer is an opportunity to feel more, to become more aware, to become more compassionate and loving, to become gentler.<br />
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Each time we receive a blow, we can fill the cracks with the flexibility of love and sprinkle over that the magical glitter of spirit, of awareness that each time we hurt, we grow closer to all that is, the great spirit that fills the universes.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7409085671253437201.post-39671302762207650812012-12-02T11:29:00.001+00:002012-12-02T11:29:25.061+00:00Is it possible to die from a broken heart?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibeDEZZgyA-fZeLvgTYR41aNySlhnAwFGoIRjQOOODGb0EI18DWPH3hv4x7FtzzvwS1DtHvkiY9ycwiDPJEOOI-NnfLFSe4Ui12GIbKHuGU1zPJ1IxN_jNNk_aiigoePV_bag6mpd9qoc/s1600/Broken_heart.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibeDEZZgyA-fZeLvgTYR41aNySlhnAwFGoIRjQOOODGb0EI18DWPH3hv4x7FtzzvwS1DtHvkiY9ycwiDPJEOOI-NnfLFSe4Ui12GIbKHuGU1zPJ1IxN_jNNk_aiigoePV_bag6mpd9qoc/s320/Broken_heart.png" width="253" /></a></div>
The short answer is 'yes'.<br />
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Some of you reading this may be familiar, as I myself have been very recently, with experiencing severe pain in the region of the heart when faced with sudden and heartbreaking news. This may be accompanied by shortness of breath, arm pain and sweating. Possibly even panic symptoms. Many who have experienced this may have been concerned that they are having a heart attack.<br />
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However, although the symptoms are similar to those of a heart attack, this response is called a stress cardiomyopathy, also known as 'broken heart syndrome'. The syndrome was first discovered in Japan in the 1990's and has been more recently noted in Western Europe and the United States.<br />
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What happens is that when emotional trauma is experienced, adrenalin and other chemicals are released by the body in a 'fight or flight' response. This abrupt flow can stun the heart muscle, preventing it from pumping properly. If the heart can't pump blood out strongly enough it can fail, causing possible loss of life.<br />
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Although it may feel like a heart attack, it is different and needs to be treated differently. During a heart attack, heart tissue is permanently damaged, creating dead cells, whereas broken heart syndrome weakens the muscles. This is not to say that it is less serious than a heart attack. If you have any form of pain in the heart region, you need to seek treatment. However, those who survive broken heart syndrome can recover completely.<br />
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Interestingly it seems that while the majority of heart attack victims are male, 90% of broken heart syndrome victims are females, particularly those who have reached menopause. Apparently oestrogen is a factor in heart protection and menopausal women have less oestrogen in their bodies.<br />
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So if you feel your heart has been broken, and you have pains in the chest, get help immediately. It <i>is</i> possible to die from a broken heart.<br />
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7409085671253437201.post-87387079763028252482012-11-14T13:33:00.001+00:002012-11-14T13:33:51.250+00:0021st December 2012 - is it really doomsday?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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The Maya calendar, a system used in pre-Columbian times in Mesoamerica, is still used by some communities in Mexico and Guatemala. The particular calendar that is causing all the fuss is the so-called long-count calendar. This calendar depicts time in long cycles starting from approximately August 11th 3114 BCE. This year, on 21st December, one of these long cycles comes to an end. This does not mean that this is the end of the world, but merely the beginning of another long cycle.<br />
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So why all the fuss? Why do people think the world will end on that day? Apart from the movie entitled 2012 which was released in 2009, depicting the end of the world in December 2012, there are many doomsday enthusiasts who have latched onto various theories regarding the end of the world at this time. These include the collision of earth with a planet called Nibiru, the alignment of earth with a black hole which will destroy us all and the sudden reversal of the earth's magnetic field.<br />
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<a name='more'></a>Nibiru was apparently discovered by the Sumerians. A woman called Nancy Lieder claimed that as a child she was contacted by extra terrestrials who told her that earth's poles would shift when the celestial body Nibiru passed by, destroying mankind, in May 2003.<br />
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There is a black hole in what is called the galactic centre in the Milky Way. This is 28000 light years away and weighs 4 million times more than our sun. NASA states that since Earth is 165 quadrillion miles away from this black hole and Earth does not get closer to it than 1 part in 900 million, coupled with the fact that this happens during June and not December, and happens annually, makes the possibility of destruction due to Earth's proximity to the black hole this year most unlikely.<br />
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The reversal of earth's magnetic field happens regularly and is not a sudden process. The last reversal was about 780 000 years ago, twice as long as the average span between reversals. Currently the magnetic North pole is creeping northwards and moving faster as time progresses, now at the rate of 40 miles per year. According to scientists, these reversals have not had any effect on the earth or its inhabitants. Doomsday enthusiasts are concerned that during a reversal there is the possibility of the earth being without a magnetic field for a period of time. The magnetic field protects the earth from sun flares and radiation. NASA is of the opinion that this is unlikely to happen but if it did, the earth's thick atmosphere would protect us. And since these reversals are entirely unpredictable, there is no way of being able to state categorically that this will happen on the 21st December this year.
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However, if you're not convinced, you may be interested in watching this YouTube clip. It's bad news and good news.......<br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" frameborder="0" height="250" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/U8y0MR8KiY8" width="400"></iframe>
However, one thing that <i>is</i> going to happen on 21st December is a galactic alignment. This means that visually the earth at winter solstice (northern hemisphere), the sun and the galactic equator of the Milky Way will be in alignment. As this only happens once in 28500 years it is rare and according to the Maya, important. Many sources believe that the cosmic energy produced by this conjunction will allow for an awakening of consciousness; provide people with the opportunity to open or accelerate their spiritual growth.<br />
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So keep all your appointments, don't cancel Christmas, and prepare yourself for a change in global consciousness, something well overdue in my opinion.<br />
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7409085671253437201.post-45355323652779332272012-11-05T11:01:00.000+00:002012-11-05T11:02:31.871+00:00Daniel Barenboim - musician and ambassador for peace?Sibling rivalry can become so intense, so driven by the fear of not being recognised as being at least equal to, if not better than, the other in the eyes of the parents, that the hatred born thereof is strong enough to foster murderous thoughts...and actions. This is how I see the Arab-Israeli conflict, a never-ending determination of both cultural/religious groups to be better than the other and therefore more in favour in the eyes of their respective Gods.<br />
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Arabs and Jews share a genetic heritage - in other words they are essentially a single population. This includes Palestinians who are genetically <a href="http://epiphenom.fieldofscience.com/2009/01/shared-genetic-heritage-of-jews-and.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">closer to Jews than to Arabs.</a> They are brothers.<br />
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Daniel Barenboim, an Israeli Argentine-born pianist and conductor founded the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra in 1999 together with Palestinian-American academic Edward Said. It is a youth orchestra based in Seville, Spain and consists of musicians from Middle Eastern countries and those who have Egyptian, Iranian, Israeli, Jordanian, Lebanese, Palestinian, Syrian and Spanish backgrounds.<br />
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The primary aim of the orchestra is to promote a peaceful solution to the Arab-Israeli conflict through fostering understanding between Palestinians and Israelis. Barenboim says:<br />
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"The Divan is not a love story, and it is not a peace story. It has very flatteringly been described as a project for peace. It isn't. It's not going to bring peace, whether you play well or not so well. The Divan was conceived as a project against ignorance. A project against the fact that it is absolutely essential for people to get to know the other, to understand what the other thinks and feels, without necessarily agreeing with it. I'm not trying to convert the Arab members of the Divan to the Israeli point of view, and [I'm] not trying to convince the Israelis to the Arab point of view. But I want to - and unfortunately I am alone in this now that Edward died a few years ago - ...create a platform where the two sides can disagree and not resort to knives." <span style="font-size: xx-small;"><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2008/jul/13/classicalmusicandopera.israelandthepalestinians" target="_blank">[1]</a></span><br />
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One of the young orchestral musicians supports this:<br />
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"Barenboim is always saying his project is not political. But one of the really great things is that this is a political statement by both sides. It is more important not for people like myself, but for people to see that it is possible to sit down with Arab people and play. The orchestra is a human laboratory that can express to the whole world how to cope with the other." <span style="font-size: xx-small;"><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2008/jul/13/classicalmusicandopera.israelandthepalestinians" target="_blank">[2]</a> </span><br />
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More projects like this, where young representatives of opposing nations can work alongside each other and therefore develop an understanding and tolerance of the other's world view would be one of the most useful ways of approaching any form of peace in this war-torn world.<br />
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I take my hat off to Daniel Barenboim.<br />
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7409085671253437201.post-72852938534161018632012-10-29T09:50:00.002+00:002013-05-20T07:09:49.410+01:00Never travel faster than your guardian angel can fly<a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3AColl18.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" title="By Iliaz (Own work) [CC-BY-SA-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons"><img alt="Coll18" src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/be/Coll18.jpg" width="256" /></a><br />
Mother Teresa imparted much wisdom in her time. She was born Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu in India in 1910, was of Albanian extraction, and served as a Catholic nun. She died in 1997 after serving the poor, sick and dying for 45 years. She founded and guided the Missionaries of Charity and received many honours including, in 1979, the Nobel Peace prize. She spoke 5 languages fluently - Bengali, Albanian, Serbo-Croatian, English and Hindi. After her death she was beatified by Pope John Paul II, receiving the title Blessed Teresa of Calcutta.<br />
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The quote "Never travel faster than your guardian angel can fly" is accredited to this remarkable woman. But what, exactly, does it mean? Many people interpret this as an admonition to keep yourself safe, never to put yourself in a position of danger. I think that interpretation could be rather limiting. What does danger mean? Surely what one person deems dangerous another may be excited by? And, if we are afraid, might we not end up doing nothing much at all?<br />
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For me, the quote implies a belief in a guardian angel in the first instance. This means that we have at our disposal a super power, an agent that has our best interests at heart and who is going to guide and protect us, allowing us to achieve great things.<br />
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The quote suggests that we each have a guardian angel, which may fly at a different speed to another guardian angel. How fast, then, can your angel fly? Is the speed of our own angel determined by how fast we believe they can fly? Does this mean we can set the speed of our own angel? Do they come with a predetermined top speed or can we tune them up to fly faster? Personally, I think that if you believe in a guardian angel, you are also in a position to determine your angel's speed. Which, in turn, means that<i> you</i> are setting the limitations of your angel, your protector. <i>You</i> control whether you can be James Bond or Superman in any given situation.<br />
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But does this mean that unless we believe in a guardian angel, we will not be able to achieve remarkable, maybe superhuman, actions? What about those people who don't believe in angels yet still accomplish seemingly impossible feats?<br />
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I'm sure many of us have heard of extraordinary deeds such as the story of 22 year old Lauren Kornacki who lifted a car that had fallen onto her father, thereby helping to save his life. This and many other similar stories have been explained scientifically as an extreme adrenalin rush that empowers the brain and muscles to perform actions that seem inconceivable.<br />
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What is it that causes the adrenalin rush? Do these people believe in angels and call on them when they need help lifting cars? Does it mean that invoking a guardian angel creates the adrenalin rush?<br />
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It seems not. In many of these cases the primary motivator for the adrenalin rush has been concern, derived from love or a strong sense of duty. People report not thinking about what to do, but finding themselves simply doing these amazing things.<br />
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It seems that believing in a guardian angel is not really necessary. All we need is a strong motivator and adrenalin.So why is it that people believe in guardian angels? Why do they not simply invest belief in themselves, in their own powers?<br />
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I think that believing in a guardian angel is a powerful way to believe in ourselves, to relieve ourselves of limiting thoughts about our own capabilities. It's a tool, a way to access our own hidden super powers.<br />
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Whether we are able to believe in ourselves directly, or whether we believe in a guardian angel, either way, our potential achievements are only limited by the scope of our beliefs. By how fast we believe our guardian angels (or our higher selves) can fly.<br />
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7409085671253437201.post-17997281352225087672012-10-22T12:31:00.001+01:002012-10-22T12:32:20.709+01:00Why should you eat only organic food?Organic food is produced in soil that contains no artificial fertilisers. Some of us have heard about the long-term <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fertilizer" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">damaging effects</a> artificial (chemically synthesised inorganic) fertilisers have on the soil and environment.<br />
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Although convenient and fast acting, artificial fertilisers:<br />
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<ul>
<li>are poisonous if ingested</li>
<li>contain cadmium, lead, arsenic, chromium and nickel - heavy metals which accumulate in the soil and in human and animal bodies causing many types of illnesses</li>
<li>contain toxic organic pollutants such as dioxins, polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins (PCDDs) and polychlorinated dibenzofurans (PCDFs) which compromise the immune system, especially in infants</li>
<li>contain Uranium and Polonium-210 - these radioactive elements cause cancer and leukemia</li>
<li>increase emissions of greenhouse gases such as Nitrous Oxide, Nitrogen Oxide, Carbon Dioxide and Ammonia into the atmosphere</li>
<li>encourage life span, birth rate and fitness of many pest forms</li>
<li>acidify the soil reducing the intake of nutrients to plants</li>
<li>create huge problems with our water - run-off depletes oxygen in oceans, aquifers and rivers thereby killing off plants and animals that live in the water - the nitrate accumulation can take decades to be naturally reversed - nitrates in groundwater are known to cause the potentially fatal b<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_baby_syndrome" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">lue baby syndrome</a></li>
<li>are unsustainable as they are produced from natural gas and coal which are limited resources</li>
<li>are used to make bombs - hundreds of<a href="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/44346944/ns/world_news-south_and_central_asia/t/pakistani-fertilizer-fuels-afghan-bombs-us-troop-deaths/#.UIUqW8Wjy9w" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"> troops in Afghanistan have been killed</a> by home-made bombs made from ammonium nitrate </li>
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Please be aware that although the commercially produced food you see on the shelves may look just the same as the organic food alongside it, it potentially contains these poisons which can seriously harm you and your families and, also, by the time it has arrived in the shops, it has already caused massive harm to the environment.<br />
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Think organic, buy organic, eat organic. The more people turn to organic food, the cheaper it will become. And the added benefit will be a reduced burden on public health systems and a feeling of incredible well-being that comes from having a healthy body.<br />
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And wait...don't go. There's more. Organic food really does taste so much better than commercially produced food. Try some today and see.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7409085671253437201.post-67216405943829344042012-10-15T08:29:00.000+01:002012-10-15T08:29:20.700+01:00Life is as easy as ABC - Adversity Builds Character<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiihUL8C1USCkoEZ2RqxN5G76tgSrahiatJ1C1yc1ZcaSec4mSTaopQgIxOscuOtrO7vCb76yoXeeZ9zLMRQvxlhs8gjzgNsqGU_77uvoMvF-xIiOyG9kr4fBg6kEZE-BbM6bDTn-WFxAA/s1600/adversity+helen+keller.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiihUL8C1USCkoEZ2RqxN5G76tgSrahiatJ1C1yc1ZcaSec4mSTaopQgIxOscuOtrO7vCb76yoXeeZ9zLMRQvxlhs8gjzgNsqGU_77uvoMvF-xIiOyG9kr4fBg6kEZE-BbM6bDTn-WFxAA/s400/adversity+helen+keller.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<b>"Adversity Builds Character"</b></div>
The first time I heard this phrase I was living in a game reserve in South Africa and it came from an 18 year old trainee game ranger. I can't remember what had happened but he had simply grinned and said 'Adversity Builds Character'. I, like many people, had suffered much adversity by that time but had never been given a formula by my parents or teachers to help me cope. Even this one passed me by as the years went on and my inability to cope created even more problems in my life.<br />
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However, one day the phrase jumped back into my consciousness and made me think. Just what was that about? Do we have no character without adversity? Does the promise of character through adversity provide a lifeline, a support through the bad times? I started to examine life, asking questions like '<a href="http://jenniesjournals.blogspot.co.uk/2012/09/what-is-purpose-of-your-life.html" target="_blank">What is my purpose in life?</a> Why does humanity suffer? If God is so good why do bad things happen to good people?<br />
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The conclusion I came to after much searching was that 'these things are sent to try us', another old phrase that is undoubtedly true. We need to be tried, tested, some of us more than others. I believe that some of us arrive in this level of existence with more<a href="http://jenniesjournals.blogspot.co.uk/2012/08/karma-why-lifes-not-easy.html" target="_blank"> karma,</a> more unsolved issues, to clear, than others - therefore life often seems very unfair. Problems that occur in our lives generally push particular buttons, the specific areas of our lives that need sorting out to make us better people, more advanced souls. This is why some people react strongly to certain issues while others may see the same issues as unimportant. This is also why the same things keep happening to us until we sort them out.<br />
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How do we do it?<br />
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We need to recognise that problems or issues that push our buttons are Opportunities. Not Problems. Opportunities to delve deep into ourselves and dig out the old karma. To look at it honestly and openly and decide that we no longer need to react in a particular way. To create new ways to react. New, productive, positive and creative ways.<br />
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To help us, we can use a phrase like 'Adversity Builds Character'. To give us courage, fortitude and stamina. To give us insight, to humble us enough to forgive, others and ourselves. To help us re-invent ourselves, to make us stronger, wiser, more compassionate, more generous and more positive. To build character.<br />
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7409085671253437201.post-69772057673623362682012-10-09T17:34:00.001+01:002012-10-09T17:34:31.186+01:00How to eat rosehips<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguEXJnx9-NSy5_E5t7sPwygtFO274vIa38Ai4zWP3GMhjJw5bTxGn2DITopnPtktvax-b_FQVblX9fgqla-6nw7H0W9fw6nxoVahDTdxjhr3BdMtfAyfDpfXocR2BzBouXtpeQ7QE_6i4/s1600/DSC_0578.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguEXJnx9-NSy5_E5t7sPwygtFO274vIa38Ai4zWP3GMhjJw5bTxGn2DITopnPtktvax-b_FQVblX9fgqla-6nw7H0W9fw6nxoVahDTdxjhr3BdMtfAyfDpfXocR2BzBouXtpeQ7QE_6i4/s320/DSC_0578.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
Rose hips are the fruit of roses. Depending on the variety of rose, the fruits can be any colour from reddish black through to bright red or orange. Their shapes vary from spherical through to pear shaped. The flesh is quite thin and encloses many dry seeds. Rose hips ripen in late summer/autumn and provide valuable nutrition for the start of winter. They are extremely high in Vitamin C - about 426mg per 100g of hips. Oranges provide about 59mg per 100g of fruit.<br />
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This bright and nutritious fruit can be made into jam or jelly, syrup, wine or <a href="http://www.fabulousfoods.com/recipes/rose-hip-marmalade" target="_blank">marmalade</a> and can be used in recipes for <a href="http://homecooking.about.com/library/archive/blrosehips.htm" target="_blank">pies, puddings, soups, sauces and breads</a>. The fruits can also be eaten raw.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPRMWsPeIV4Bdpqy3R_J9NWfmAO01K3ManuXi87Ph9-DrCiJSyGc7WXsRsOzI1it-8O71DS3z-FFeKnJ1gIJv-gjM_z0RKhMMfMMEaLMXCV0AFl8Mp14izf8UKGHBA836NSxFG7M_Pwyg/s1600/Rose+Hips.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="166" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPRMWsPeIV4Bdpqy3R_J9NWfmAO01K3ManuXi87Ph9-DrCiJSyGc7WXsRsOzI1it-8O71DS3z-FFeKnJ1gIJv-gjM_z0RKhMMfMMEaLMXCV0AFl8Mp14izf8UKGHBA836NSxFG7M_Pwyg/s200/Rose+Hips.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
My favourite occupation in late summer and autumn while I am walking out in the countryside is to pick and eat rose hips as I go. You can tell if they are ripe enough if they come off the stem easily when you pull gently at the fruit, turning it to right angles to the stem. Once you have the rose hip in your hand, bite it so that your teeth just split the skin halfway through enabling you to split the fruit open longways with your fingers.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2Cl8AJZcNaYKpGXzc_R0Z9V-SuwzJwzF4TN006liPvgTbZ3Dr7UCIjvxoXWbsyUdF15fGUy7Ih0GFFoGn13tqTTxbUJml46NaZJwNh94VdbHrtRJU59iGZG-eqZanF8T1Uft6nj3-Kl4/s1600/Rose+hip-2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="176" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2Cl8AJZcNaYKpGXzc_R0Z9V-SuwzJwzF4TN006liPvgTbZ3Dr7UCIjvxoXWbsyUdF15fGUy7Ih0GFFoGn13tqTTxbUJml46NaZJwNh94VdbHrtRJU59iGZG-eqZanF8T1Uft6nj3-Kl4/s200/Rose+hip-2.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
Then, with your thumb nail, scrape the seeds out of the fruit leaving the thin flesh behind. Make sure that there is no mould - sometimes mould develops if the fruit is a bit over-ripe. Nip off the tough end bits and then eat the flesh. You will find it crunchy and dry with the most delicious flavour.<br />
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Be sure when you are picking them that they are high enough to have not been contaminated by dogs and as an added precaution be wary of hips growing near agricultural fields in case of contamination by spraying.<br />
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7409085671253437201.post-34549194966291447892012-09-25T15:00:00.000+01:002012-09-25T15:00:20.561+01:00What is the purpose of your life?A friend recently asked this question on Facebook -<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRkQkwHC5wlwboQZ-52FdPHN5mlN4egasDZhSInYd5zGn3CmRBEAzNvkTjJFvKtH0vIszUQ_eMEYfY3OpJdzGDE8sH1pZztTLHyYhMmCLtRAMFYlphcBHU-4vZb_JXDWuO879RFsmy63I/s1600/St._Pauls_Cathedral_with_dome.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRkQkwHC5wlwboQZ-52FdPHN5mlN4egasDZhSInYd5zGn3CmRBEAzNvkTjJFvKtH0vIszUQ_eMEYfY3OpJdzGDE8sH1pZztTLHyYhMmCLtRAMFYlphcBHU-4vZb_JXDWuO879RFsmy63I/s320/St._Pauls_Cathedral_with_dome.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">St Paul's Cathedral - Sir Christopher Wren</span><br /><span style="font-size: xx-small;">By jedyooo (Own work) </span><br /><span style="font-size: xx-small;">[Public domain], </span><br /><span style="font-size: xx-small;">via Wikimedia Commons</span></td></tr>
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"Have you ever wondered what your purpose in life is? I haven't figured out what mine is supposed to be yet!"<br />
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I had to reply that I had thought I was the only one who hadn't figured it out yet. Her question made me think a lot about my life's purpose and, even though I have spent a lot of time considering what my purpose might be over the years, her question made me really concentrate on the subject. This is what I came up with.<br />
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We are all unique. We each have something to contribute to the world. What we contribute may not be unique in itself, but it's the way we do it that is entirely unique. Compare Mozart and John Williams. Degas and Warhol. Christopher Wren and Kengo Kuma. Compare your grandmother's scones with your neighbour's scones. All different. All have their own signature.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsRSBubvEyATi5nWRE9WbvTAX65jMFBL9KA9-oD-k5fN0TSvLt23A-LHNIq4xRyD8w1YFALZ8KTwVIYqEiTWxzLFBX3pQlEf-ft_EegwXuxaNSbO1KRS0aDv_kbO1pNul9JKtQL-236CY/s1600/Commune_by_the_great_wall3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsRSBubvEyATi5nWRE9WbvTAX65jMFBL9KA9-oD-k5fN0TSvLt23A-LHNIq4xRyD8w1YFALZ8KTwVIYqEiTWxzLFBX3pQlEf-ft_EegwXuxaNSbO1KRS0aDv_kbO1pNul9JKtQL-236CY/s200/Commune_by_the_great_wall3.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Kengo Kuma's Great (Bamboo) Wall<br /><span style="font-size: xx-small;">By ぷくぷく (Own work) <br />[GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html), <br />CC-BY-SA-3.0 <br />(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/) <br />or FAL], via Wikimedia Commons</span></td></tr>
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We each have a talent. Some ability to be creative. Do not imagine that talent includes only being a painter, musician, actor or architect, sculptor or author. Talents show in many ways; teaching, engineering, mothering, some form of sporting prowess, sewing, communion with nature, writing, inspiring people, computing, fostering children, medicine, religious leadership, being a good friend, caring for animals, business acumen, home making.....The list is endless. We each have something that we are really good at, a talent that others can admire. When we combine our talents with our unique signatures, we have something rich to offer the world.<br />
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However, I believe that there is a third element that needs to be integrated before this offering can be called a purpose. Service. Service to humanity. Whether this is direct, such as being a good doctor or mother, or whether it is indirect, such as taking care of the earth or nature in some way, is immaterial. Service to others adds an important dimension to one's unique way of using and presenting a talent. A spiritual richness. Meaning. Purpose.<br />
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Using and presenting one's unique talent in a loving and meaningful way is what I believe to be our purpose in life.<br />
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So, for those who are having trouble with deciding why they are here, on this earth, why they are bothering, have a look inside yourself. Contemplate the things you are good at and enjoy doing, no matter how insignificant they may seem to you. Add a large measure of love. Explore ways of using your talents to the advantage of others and you may find that you have discovered your purpose in life.<br />
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7409085671253437201.post-68258205544584376742012-09-10T13:55:00.002+01:002012-09-10T14:16:57.089+01:00Nature's Medicine - Coconut OilI'm always fascinated with the way various fruits seem to resemble the physical characteristics of those parts of the body that they are supposed to be good for. For example, if you slice a carrot into disks, each disk resembles the iris and pupil of an eye, and carrots are good for eyesight. The inside of a walnut looks like the human brain and walnuts are known as 'brainfood'. For more on this subject, also know as 'the doctrine of signatures' see <a href="http://www.womansday.com/health-fitness/nutrition/foods-that-look-like-body-parts-theyre-good-for-109151" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">this link.</a><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiROTTfvrjlhnIEwUSM9mqDq70dMTu-J0oY4S314Tlm7Dmqjtv2FJ9QCUutRU_R93Rk1ou_FBvpHqfR958gqoDrxiwC3_Xyd5FGyYRVdGaIDOg1RgZx8rf0yFzQ22bSnIT-bzwxDyjzoK8/s1600/coconut+palm.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiROTTfvrjlhnIEwUSM9mqDq70dMTu-J0oY4S314Tlm7Dmqjtv2FJ9QCUutRU_R93Rk1ou_FBvpHqfR958gqoDrxiwC3_Xyd5FGyYRVdGaIDOg1RgZx8rf0yFzQ22bSnIT-bzwxDyjzoK8/s1600/coconut+palm.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons</td></tr>
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However, it's the coconut which I find most interesting. The coconut resembles, unsurprisingly, the female breast. There is a natural soft spot on one end of the nut where you can easily make a hole to drink the delicious coconut water. The coconut's products are not only good for the human breast - coconut milk contains kinetin riboside which inhibits certain types of cancers including breast cancer - but the coconut also offers what the human breast provides.<br />
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Coconut water (not to be confused with coconut milk which is made from the flesh of the coconut) is a liquid that is so pure it has been used as a substitute for blood plasma. This water and the oil contained in the flesh of the nut, contain lauric acid, a fatty acid which is also found in breast milk and is known to be antibacterial, antiviral, antimicrobial, antiprotozoal and anti-fungal. It works by disrupting the lipid membranes of fungus, viruses and bacteria thereby killing them.<br />
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Some of the viruses that can be destroyed by eating coconut are HIV, Measles, Herpes simplex, Herpes viridae, Sarcoma, Epstein-Barr, Influenza, Leukemia, Pneumonovirus and Hepatitis C. Bacteria that lauric acid can destroy include Listeria monocytogenes, Helicobacter pylori, Hemophilus influenzae, Chlamydia pneumoniae, Staphylococcus aureus and Streptococcus agalactiae. Lauric acid is also a top Candida killer, the fungus that resides in our bodies and causes a myriad of autoimmune diseases such as arthritis and lupus, as well as cancer. Of course one should also stop eating sugar to assist with this.<br />
<a href="http://jenniesjournals.blogspot.co.uk/2012/08/death-by-sugar-why-you-should-avoid.html">http://jenniesjournals.blogspot.co.uk/2012/08/death-by-sugar-why-you-should-avoid.html</a><br />
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Coconut milk, which is made from pressing the liquid from coconut meat, is high in saturated fat, some protein and carbohydrate. It's also high in iron, magnesium, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, copper, selenium, zinc, folate and vitamin C. Other elements in coconut milk are vitamin E, vitamin K, thiamin, vitamin B6, niacin, choline, pantothenic acid and calcium.<br />
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The fat in coconut milk has caused mainstream medicine and the press to malign it in the past as it is mainly saturated fat, but recent research shows that these fatty acids are actually good for your health. Lauric Acid, Myristic Acid, Caprylic Acid, Capric Acid and Caproic Acid are the saturated fats present in coconut oil. They are also all medium-chain fatty acids, MCFA's. These fatty acid chains are smaller than saturated fat Long Chain Fatty Acids which are responsible for weight problems and high cholesterol. MCFAs permeate cell membranes easily and do not need special enzymes to enable the body to use them. They are easily digested and sent directly to the liver where they are converted to energy, not stored as fat. They also stimulate the metabolism, helping with weight loss.<br />
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Coconut has to be one of the most effective wonder-foods available and coconut oil is now becoming more readily available. Use only cold pressed organic virgin coconut oil and consume up to about 3 tablespoons daily. Coconut oil is perfect for cooking as its smoke point is 177 degrees C, so it is very heat stable, also making it resistant to becoming rancid. Go back to nature and thrive.<br />
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7409085671253437201.post-90183507106384081632012-09-04T12:33:00.000+01:002012-09-04T12:33:00.287+01:00What is love - really?<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNSh2HVp3fDgOmaig_Sg8RoCK_nf2cznw0Szsha1KT0Nq8fdOpAenAD8yb6A3qWfJmX8MJ-h-8hSEGUKHKhMz0KqE7zHrz9SVz9kBJuzgKf_Ec6xtdVroD78VVEbnp0Vhmsdq9rTVLIvs/s1600/AntonioCanova_PsycheRevivedByCupidsKiss.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNSh2HVp3fDgOmaig_Sg8RoCK_nf2cznw0Szsha1KT0Nq8fdOpAenAD8yb6A3qWfJmX8MJ-h-8hSEGUKHKhMz0KqE7zHrz9SVz9kBJuzgKf_Ec6xtdVroD78VVEbnp0Vhmsdq9rTVLIvs/s400/AntonioCanova_PsycheRevivedByCupidsKiss.JPG" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: #f9f9f9; font-family: sans-serif; line-height: 19.200000762939453px; text-align: start;">Antonio Canova sculpture - <br />Psyche Revived By Cupids Kiss</span> </td></tr>
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This question is so personal that all I can give you is my opinion tainted and bolstered by my experience. But before I do that I would like to share what some notable characters have felt is the nature of love.<br />
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I am particularly fond of Kahlil Gibran's verse:<br />
"It is wrong to think that love comes from long companionship and persevering courtship. Love is the offspring of spiritual affinity and unless that affinity is created in a moment, it will not be created for years or even generations."<br />
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George Gershwin:<br />
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"For suddenly, I saw you there<br />
And through foggy London town<br />
The sun was shining everywhere..."<br />
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Franz Schubert:<br />
"Some people come into our lives, leave footprints on our hearts, and we are never the same.”<br />
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Lao Tsu:<br />
"Love is of all passions the strongest, for it attacks simultaneously the head, the heart, and the senses."<br />
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Aristotle:<br />
"Love is composed of a single soul inhabiting two bodies."<br />
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I have to agree with Aristotle and Kahlil Gibran. For love to last, for it to be consistently nourishing to both parties, for it to obliterate jealousy, doubt, fear and anger, for it to elevate the soul, it has to be a spiritual affinity, a spark, both instant and eternal.<br />
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Too many people do not discover this kind of love though they search for it. And - here it comes - in my opinion, the other half of your soul can only come into your life when you are ready. When you know who you are, when you love yourself, when you accept yourself, your past, your failings, your future. When you acknowledge your own uniqueness.<br />
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This self love opens the door, sends out the signal for the other part of your soul to come home. Then the fog burns away and Gershwin's London is full of sunshine, your body, mind and soul are attacked by the passion of love and you are never again the same.<br />
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7409085671253437201.post-20965396179028439372012-08-29T13:21:00.001+01:002012-11-20T13:38:25.865+00:00Algae - the new Biofuel source?<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhL1tbA4C8yVbSegh-fPe5C8hMZP6zAsUc-zR0jOzBfdMuIaWgESKhn_LCYxCzbovY04EeaJnFTH5FZCVE65LC3MYh1CizIwVYRFq-B8M-ufS60g-E_mR8_1PdEj01lxYWwr1Ir7DX8lUg/s1600/algae.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhL1tbA4C8yVbSegh-fPe5C8hMZP6zAsUc-zR0jOzBfdMuIaWgESKhn_LCYxCzbovY04EeaJnFTH5FZCVE65LC3MYh1CizIwVYRFq-B8M-ufS60g-E_mR8_1PdEj01lxYWwr1Ir7DX8lUg/s400/algae.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">By Stefan Thiesen (wikimedia Nick "Buntrabe") (Own work)<br />
[CC-BY-SA-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], <br />
via Wikimedia Commons</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
The other day I read an article in the New Scientist (#2879) about an alternative bio-fuel source. Current bio-fuel sources such as sugar-cane and corn are being grown on agricultural land causing concern about possible future food shortages.<br />
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This new possibility is the use of micro-algae to produce bio-fuel. Some algae are amongst the fastest growing plants while others can produce between 18700 and 46750 litres of oil per hectare annually. This is about 100 times more than soy-beans at 468 litres.<br />
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An added bonus is that freshwater algae can be cultivated in waste water and marine algae in a blend of waste water and seawater. The algae not only multiply but also clean the water while doing so, removing pollutants and nutrients such as fertiliser. This also means that there is no need to use precious fresh water to grow the algae. According to the UN, 80% of waste water (about 1200 cubic kilometres) is currently left untreated so there is already a suitable supply of nutrient-rich water available.<br />
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There are a few problems that need ironing out. Firstly, there are few species of domesticated micro-algae, therefore there is not enough data available to make plans to grow it commercially, such as how much algae needs to be grown to meet the demand. Secondly, space would have to be found to farm the organism. Algae need light and must not get too hot.<br />
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The current thought of bio-fuels guru Jonathan Trent is to utilise non-arable land close to waste-water treatment plants or to site installations off-shore, running waste water through plastic tubes that would float on the ocean in protected bays. He calls this system OMEGA - Offshore Membrane Enclosures for Growing Algae.<br />
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He has more ideas for this system involving using forward osmosis to prepare the algae for harvesting as well as cleaning the water - he also envisages the pipes forming a type of artificial reef. The system is environmentally sound as, should any freshwater algae escape, they would immediately die in the salt water, preventing invasive species from contaminating the ecosystem.<br />
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Potential sites include places like Saudi Arabia, New Zealand and Australia. All that is required is a commitment from someone to set up a demonstration site. And of course - the funds.<br />
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Personally I feel that this is major breakthrough, a possibility that would solve many problems. Hopefully governments will feel the same way and pledge money to support this cutting-edge idea.<br />
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What do you think?<br />
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7409085671253437201.post-81605073900542078082012-08-23T18:37:00.000+01:002012-08-23T18:37:06.666+01:001893 - the year women gained the voteI was walking along the Grand Union Canal tow-path and discovered Cowley Lock, which bears a plaque dated 1893, and I started wondering about what might have been happening in the world during that year.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLKhhqrjRH9y-aQMB7l8IXpmfNFNMvhMj05fb7G1Xupg7Fzx6yel2wyObEBJOTzPbcSI2AFxh3hvdWscvHVkU_lqcxHfQH_mfINlcHzM0TffATDztjzrvucBf27r7oifz_MYYw6pQnYCc/s1600/DSC_0250.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLKhhqrjRH9y-aQMB7l8IXpmfNFNMvhMj05fb7G1Xupg7Fzx6yel2wyObEBJOTzPbcSI2AFxh3hvdWscvHVkU_lqcxHfQH_mfINlcHzM0TffATDztjzrvucBf27r7oifz_MYYw6pQnYCc/s320/DSC_0250.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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Quite a lot, it seems, according to <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1893" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Wikipedia</a>. Among these many events were:<br />
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<ul>
<li>The Free Presbyterian Church of Scotland was formed</li>
<li>The 1893 crash on the New York Stock exchange started a depression</li>
<li>The United States Supreme Court declared the tomato to be a vegetable</li>
<li>In India Ghandi committed his first act of civil disobedience</li>
<li>Gold was discovered in Kalgoorlie, Western Australia</li>
<li>Antonin Dvorak's Symphony No 9 premièred at Carnegie Hall, New York City</li>
<li>Indian Guru, Paramahansa Yogananda was born</li>
<li>Chinese leader, Mao Zedung was born</li>
</ul>
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But when Cowley Lock, which was built in 1794 during the Industrial Revolution, was being upgraded nearly 100 years later, women gained the vote for the first time in the world; New Zealand being the first country to grant women this right.<br />
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This got me wondering again. How did this come about? What was so special about New Zealand that caused this momentous event? Why New Zealand, which was part of the British Empire, and not England?<br />
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In New Zealand, women like Kate Sheppard and Mary Ann Muller and the New Zealand branch of the Women's Christian Temperance Union campaigned for nearly two decades to secure this right. Many attempts were made by Parliament to pass a bill to secure women the vote and in 1893 the only thing that actually swung the bill in favour was a backfired attempt to prevent the bill being passed in the Upper House.<br />
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Apparently Premier Richard Seddon ordered a Liberal Party councillor to change his vote. His interference so upset two other councillors that they changed their vote <i>for</i> the bill, allowing the bill to be passed by 20 votes to 18. Make of that what you will but this event was the beginning of enormous change for the good of women worldwide.<br />
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7409085671253437201.post-15426842353287187722012-08-20T08:39:00.001+01:002012-08-20T08:39:23.484+01:00What is it about the smell of a rose?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj__xUunh6BKV5O2iNkmPBCrCW1cSc4KSLJHwAMKPnHCBrjyJ8IZh6eI59fw0qulsYzFEAtrMRuKS_uVnMaGXuLwa6OJNxP6cm2s0nGyDIbKNWkBja2NgjRMiVgAmJDu2aX5sb1Jj4IZQQ/s1600/rose.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj__xUunh6BKV5O2iNkmPBCrCW1cSc4KSLJHwAMKPnHCBrjyJ8IZh6eI59fw0qulsYzFEAtrMRuKS_uVnMaGXuLwa6OJNxP6cm2s0nGyDIbKNWkBja2NgjRMiVgAmJDu2aX5sb1Jj4IZQQ/s400/rose.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
This morning while I was walking in the nearby woodland I was suddenly catapulted back in time by the smell of crushed leaves - I imagine the dog I had just seen running by had scrambled through them. The memory that came to me was vivid visually and emotionally, a small event, something I haven't thought about for too many years.<br />
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This has happened to me often throughout my life - the smell of a dark red old fashioned rose reminds me of being a small child in my grandmother's garden, happy and carefree - the smell of jasmine conjures up the mass of flowers growing outside my bedroom when I was a teenager together with a heady feeling of infinite possibility- rain falling on hot dry earth recalls the heavenly scent of Zululand bush and a magical day spent with a close friend. I have often wondered how a smell can be remembered and also call up the associated visual and emotional memory.<br />
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Marcel Proust (French novelist - 1871 - 1922) wrote <span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: italic; line-height: 20px;">“When from a long distant past nothing subsists, after the people are dead, after the things are broken and scattered, taste and smell alone, more fragile but enduring, more unsubstantial, more persistent, more faithful, remain poised a long time, like souls, remembering, waiting, hoping, amid the ruins of all the rest; and bear unflinchingly, in the tiny and almost impalpable drop of their essence, the vast structure of recollection.”</span><br />
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When Proust wrote that, the brain was still much of a mystery to scientists. Proust maintained that smell and taste alone had the ability to recall emotional memories and that looking at visual forms did not do the same.<br />
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I am inclined to agree wholeheartedly - even looking through albums of treasured photos doesn't bring back the stir of emotion that belongs to the time the photos were taken.<br />
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I've discovered that olfactory memory - that's what it's called - is a very important survival mechanism. we need to be able to recognise smells to remember when we experience something, whether it means we are about to have a good experience (food, sex) or a bad one (rotten food).<br />
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This is how smell works - the odour molecule is absorbed in the nasal passage. It binds to a chemo-receptor specific to that particular type of smell and heads to the olfactory bulb as an electrical signal. From there the signal is transmitted to the limbic system of the brain. The limbic system compares the signal to other stored signals to identify it.<br />
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The limbic system also stores memories and mediates emotions. Apparently somehow when the odour is first recorded, the emotion and visual event that is happening at that moment is also recorded as a part of the same memory. Obviously the scientific explanation is a lot more complex and difficult to understand.<br />
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People who suffer from Alzheimers disease apparently have impaired olfactory memory, and mental disorders such as depression can be assessed by the particular pattern of deficiency in olfactory memory.<br />
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This magical ability to bring back a memory through the sense of smell is something we don't think about and take for granted but I hope that I will now pay more attention and be grateful the next time my nose calls back the past.<br />
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7409085671253437201.post-22773452214538643152012-08-15T15:02:00.001+01:002012-08-15T15:02:27.233+01:00Death by Sugar - why you should avoid this toxin.<div style="text-align: left;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4L6ptFsB5LaO71IunhpS53zwCLklZV89vfV4UB0cwcZ_t19cNsHIrHko7PdQWLkoGRPnZdffDXzgadKQWy7COqrCXGdY6sU6Elgig_UO8a7KyZNhk7kzwvUp3MZsBHqJN3Ohyf2-_mr4/s1600/sugar.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="386" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4L6ptFsB5LaO71IunhpS53zwCLklZV89vfV4UB0cwcZ_t19cNsHIrHko7PdQWLkoGRPnZdffDXzgadKQWy7COqrCXGdY6sU6Elgig_UO8a7KyZNhk7kzwvUp3MZsBHqJN3Ohyf2-_mr4/s400/sugar.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
Many people think that we should cut back on sugar consumption in order to keep our weight down.<br />
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That's true but I wonder how many realise that sugar is toxic and not only causes diabetes, heart disease, obesity, cholesterol problems, arthritis, liver disease, fibromyalgia, adrenal fatigue, candida and high blood pressure but is also implicated in the growth of cancer cells. Sugar is a killer.<br />
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This is what happens in your body when you eat sugar. When sugar reaches your bloodstream your pancreas produces insulin to convert sugar so that it can be used by the body's cells.<br />
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If a large dose of refined sugar goes into the bloodstream the pancreas produces an equally large dose of insulin. Blood sugar that the body does not need at that time gets stored as fat. This leaves the system full of insulin so, to neutralise this, the adrenal glands produce epinephrine and cortisol.<br />
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If this process is repeated too often the pancreas can become damaged and stop producing insulin causing Type I diabetes. Insulin prevents high blood sugar (hyperglycaemia). The effects of hyperglycaemia range from drowsiness to unconsciousness, brain damage and death. The adrenal glands can become overworked leading to adrenal fatigue or exhaustion.<br />
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Even if your pancreas and adrenal glands survive sugar overloads, sugar has been proven to depress your immune system for up to 5 hours after eating sugar. When your immune system is down you are susceptible to attack by viruses and immunodeficiency diseases like pneumonia, auto-immune disorders, meningitis, osteomyelitis, rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, AIDS and cancer .<br />
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Sugar kills beneficial bacteria in the body and also feeds fungus allowing candida, for example, to thrive. Cancerous cells feed on sugar as they are infected with sugar-hungry fungus allowing tumours to grow.<br />
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Sugar is a toxin that affects many organs and metabolic processes and yes - it can kill you.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7409085671253437201.post-16373016180526060762012-08-13T00:40:00.000+01:002013-05-19T07:02:33.880+01:00The story of NiQi - A brave young woman who has Cystic Fibrosis<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrYTOyQuDLbRcXuZsUgneJyuCYmL0Jn6ln2-_XwIyujbOwUw5YkvE_xWc0W1yIGdABa_jbPX1QHrnXQGubypwh4Yy6n2C8vfy8nQbm8M6KiK88nifcWVoztk232X03KOl-QV-X0WHAZcg/s1600/niqi.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrYTOyQuDLbRcXuZsUgneJyuCYmL0Jn6ln2-_XwIyujbOwUw5YkvE_xWc0W1yIGdABa_jbPX1QHrnXQGubypwh4Yy6n2C8vfy8nQbm8M6KiK88nifcWVoztk232X03KOl-QV-X0WHAZcg/s1600/niqi.jpg" /></a></div>
Many years ago I met a young girl called NiQi, my niece's cousin. At the time I knew a little of her story which was remarkable then. She had been removed from her grandparents' care by the Welfare Department as they had assumed she was being neglected.<br />
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She was subsequently diagnosed with Cystic Fibrosis at the age of 6 months. Cystic Fibrosis is a hereditary disease which causes the lungs to become clogged with sticky mucous leading to severe breathing difficulties and respiratory infections. The pancreas also degenerates.<br />
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Due to this it was decided that NiQi should be put in a foster home, and this is how she came to be my nieces' cousin.<br />
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Every 2 to 3 months, NiQi has to be hospitalised for a period of 2 to 3 weeks each time for treatment. She has developed a resistance to all antibiotics but one which makes treatment a lot more difficult. She has to take 25 different medications daily.<br />
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Now at the age of 21, NiQi desperately needs to have a double-lung transplant, something her family simply does not have the funds for, considering their considerable ongoing outlay for medical expenses throughout this remarkable young woman's life.<br />
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She is currently in hospital being prepared for the transplant and concurrently her family and friends have set to trying to raise the R2 million (£158 000/ $248 000) required. They have set up the <a href="http://www.facebook.com/groups/392256720827792/?bookmark_t=group" target="_blank">NiQi Tanja During Double-Lung Transplant Support Group</a> on Facebook for this purpose.<br />
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I feel humbled by the courage of this young woman and by the compassion shown by her family and friends. If you would like to see more about NiQi and what she is going through, follow <a href="http://fabulousandfightingcf.blogspot.co.uk/2012/08/niqi-d-flutterby-trust-fund-proposal.html?showComment=1344776148734#c7681848045356406001" target="_blank">this link.</a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7409085671253437201.post-13178789245637107932012-08-11T05:15:00.003+01:002012-08-11T05:16:01.149+01:00Do you lack confidence?<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8SEFslhitUrl_BDpifw1fHQnCuq13EmuFekna3C5pt_oA2Hu8utx6ocY6WlWrjsNrUoXqUC268McFcvsaT5JoQ5V-bzlHqEQEEWm56WiPU42evu99oO29HxgTdF7RNrg_DeDRqs-d9Z0/s1600/Coiled_Galaxy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8SEFslhitUrl_BDpifw1fHQnCuq13EmuFekna3C5pt_oA2Hu8utx6ocY6WlWrjsNrUoXqUC268McFcvsaT5JoQ5V-bzlHqEQEEWm56WiPU42evu99oO29HxgTdF7RNrg_DeDRqs-d9Z0/s400/Coiled_Galaxy.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/imagegallery/image_feature_1442.html">http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/imagegallery/image_feature_1442.html</a></td></tr>
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If you are one of those people who worry about what other people think about you or what you do, how you do it or why you are doing it - if you worry about failing, not coming up to the mark set by others or yourself - worry about how you look, what you wear, how you come across to others, think about this....<br />
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You....are unique! There is no-one, never has been anyone and never will be anyone quite like you. In the whole of time you are unique. You have unique qualities and abilities, strengths and talents many of which, due to your lack of confidence, may not yet have come to light.<br />
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You are special. Have a look at your thumbprint. There will never be another like it. How amazing is that? How much more amazing your way of interacting with the world, your special and unique way of speaking, smiling, sharing. How incredibly amazing and unique the shape of your eyes and mouth, the special blend of your features and hair.<br />
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This uniqueness needs to be celebrated - you need to shine. You need to make the most of your special looks and talents. You need to show them off.<br />
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And what about those others, those who will judge you? Why do you care about their opinion? There are many reasons why people pass an opinion about another person - jealousy, small-mindedness, fear. It does not mean they are right.<br />
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You, and only you, should be the judge of you. As long as you are causing no harm (to others, the earth or yourself) then whatever you do, however you look, is not a matter of judgement. How is it possible for something unique to be judged against another uniqueness?<br />
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So enjoy you! See yourself as you are - precious, unique, special and make the most of it. This is how you gain confidence.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7409085671253437201.post-7061715489404065692012-08-10T10:44:00.000+01:002012-08-10T10:44:03.698+01:00When someone says they love you - what do they mean?<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLRb09iC3PqiiAnIN6G5KgMRkiibm-Jqzw_HLuTh6giTxJQIpuPF1DqNqFovDwLTfFOlQak64s3XiGjYi-7Gt9vjLv_AbHXSPUGxbgSIsdorDgtjN-ySNg0Q5wX4epQWZt_rT88TG3uhg/s1600/dreamstimefree_228647.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLRb09iC3PqiiAnIN6G5KgMRkiibm-Jqzw_HLuTh6giTxJQIpuPF1DqNqFovDwLTfFOlQak64s3XiGjYi-7Gt9vjLv_AbHXSPUGxbgSIsdorDgtjN-ySNg0Q5wX4epQWZt_rT88TG3uhg/s400/dreamstimefree_228647.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Courtesy http://www.dreamstime.com/<br />sillhouette-of-man-and-wife-at-sunset-imagefree228647</td></tr>
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Many people have been told by someone "I love you!" Without doubt this has to be one of the statements that has the potential power to move mountains. However, many people have been told this and have subsequently been let down. "I don't love you any more" or "I love someone else" or "I'm not sure if I like you any more" etc etc.<br />
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Of course the result is that when someone says "I love you" in the future, those who have been hurt are not sure if they can trust the words. They start to wonder what the person really means. They ask questions like "What is love - really?"<br />
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This has got to be one of the trickiest questions in the world, alongside "What is infinity?" The word "love" must be used billions of times a day. People say "I love bananas" or "I love rain". Can this same word be used when we say "I love you"? How many degrees of meaning does that simple four letter word hold?<br />
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As I see it, despite the richness of language, this word has taken the place of many more appropriate words, reducing its effectiveness, compromising its meaning. And even if one were to use the word "love" only to express our feelings for other humans, how would we know whether that other human means what we think they mean? Or want them to mean?<br />
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In many instances when a person says "I love you" they mean "I desire you" or "I need you" or "I admire you" or "I want to own you" or "I approve of you". Most often, if we have our wits about us, we realise what people mean and respond accordingly. This is fine, excepting for when a person wants to be loved truly, unconditionally. Do they perhaps misunderstand due to the strength of their own feelings?<br />
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What is this, this need to be loved like this? Why do we want it? How do we know it exists? Where does this profound feeling come from, the feeling that lurks in our hearts waiting for reciprocation? And is it possible to get it - this real love - from another human? This love that lasts forever.<br />
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I think the answer is yes. However, I've only ever seen this kind of love in action between some parents and their children. And once between a man and woman. I have a distant older relative who told me after his wife, almost blind at the time, had left the room, "To me she is still the beautiful sixteen year old girl I married so long ago - how I loved her - and still do." There were tears in his eyes. He has since lost her and the pain of his loss burdens him, now at the age of 88.<br />
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I'm sure that when he told her he loved her, she knew that this was a declaration of true love.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0